By Deann Davidson

Mequon, WI – The Chinooks faced the Madison Mallards riding a three-game win streak and defeated the Mallards 2-0 thanks to a strong performance from the pitching staff and RBIs delivered by Daryl Myers.

Taking the mound for Lakeshore was Jarod Large, a righty out of North Iowa Area Community College, had an ERA of 5.47 going into the game with a 1-2 record on the season. Large had pitched 24 and 2/3 innings for the Chinooks this season, tallying 15 strikeouts and 18 walks. The Mallards sent Trevor Marreel to face the Chinooks’ offense that has been potent of late. Marreel had a 5.40 ERA and 24 strikeouts coming into the game.

Both teams went three up, three down in the first two innings. The Mallards almost got a runner on with one out in the second on a throw to first from Troy Black that sailed high, but Ronnie Sweeny III made a spectacular defensive play to catch the ball and tag the runner to get the out.

Madison threated in the third inning. Drew Benefield got a leadoff single and with one out, Large hit Nicholas Figus with a pitch, putting runners at first and second. Ben Anderson then walked to load the bases. The next batter hit a liner into shallow right field and Nathan Aide made an incredible catch for the second out and completed the double play with a throw to Sweeny at first to get Anderson before he could tag up to end the inning, keeping the score tied at zero. In the bottom of the third, Trenton Wallace reached after beating out a bunt. With two outs, Cole Barr hit a liner right over the head of the second baseman to put runners at the corners. Daryl Myers came to the plate and drove in the first run of the game with a single.

Despite allowing a runner to reach after being hit by a pitch, the Chinooks kept the Mallards from capitalizing in the top of the fourth. In the bottom of the inning, Black singled to right and Trent Bauer followed with a walk. David Dunn hit a sac fly to left center, advancing Black to third, but Wallace flew out to left field to end the inning and leave two runners stranded.

With two outs in the fifth, Figus grounded down the third base line and it stayed fair for a two-out double, but Anderson flew out to Dunn in center to end the inning and leave Figus stranded. In the fifth, Gunner Hellstrom singled on a line drive to right. Barr reached base on a throwing error by Madison’s shortstop and Hellstrom advanced to third. Myers came up big for Lakeshore once again with an RBI sac-fly to deep centerfield and make it a 2-0 game.

Both teams failed to score in the sixth inning and Large faced the minimum in the inning, striking out two. In the seventh, Ryan Schmit relieved Large for the Chinooks. Large left the game allowing only two hits and no runs while striking out four Mallards. Schmit only allowed one runner on base after hitting Drew Benefield with a pitch with two outs, but got Wade Strauss looking to end the inning. Marreel was relieved by Aiden Tyrell in the bottom of the inning. Hellstrom grounded out to short but Barr reached on an infield single and then stole second with Myers batting. Myers was out at first, but Barr advanced to third on the play. Barr was stranded when Aide flew out to right field.

Neither team scored in the eighth, but Madison had a scoring opportunity in the top of the ninth. Austin Blazevic reached on a ground ball to second. With two outs, Benefield dropped a hit into shallow right field, giving Madison runners at the corners. The game ended when Stauss struck out swinging.

Large got the win for the Chinooks and now has a record or 2-2 and McGuigan got his first save of the season. This win improves the Chinooks to 9-8 in the second half of the season. The series continues tomorrow at Kapco Park at 6:35 pm.

The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit  www.lakeshorechinooks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.